Reel



Oct, 23, 192 1,688,582

w. A; HEINRICH REEL Filed Jan. 25, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 23, 1928. 1,688,582

w. A. HEINRICH REEL Filed Jan. 25,- 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 9 Patented (let. 23, 1928.

UNETED STATES reaassz rATsNT orrice WALTER A. HEINRICH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGIIOR TO "JV. N. MATTHETVS COB.- IPORATION, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

REEL.

Application filed January 25, Serial No. 83,529.

which may be retained in a given position without rotative movement of the winding element; the provision of a reel which permits of a complete brake control of the winding element and the provision of a reel of the class described which can be economically and rigidly built and which is not subject to breakage and derangement during ordinary or even abnormal usage. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the'structure hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention, Y

Fig. 1 is a partial plan View of the reel;

Fig. 2 is an ideal section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; r

Fig. 3 is a complete side elevation;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail showing certain brake setting means and is a partial section taken on line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section taken on. line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters indicate cor responding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated at 1 a preferably sheet metal. plate or disc having a on the drum 25, although the drum may be turned down edge 3 for stiffening and other purposes to be described. The disc 1 is bolted to a normally rotatable hub 5 by means of bolts 7.- The hub 5 is borne on a shaft 9. This shaft 9 is rotatably held in a bearing 11 of a brace plate 13 and is prevented from leaving the hearing by an end washer-andbolt combination 12 2). The plate 13 is made fast to preferably wooden cross, braces 15, which braces are themselves fastened sidewardly to side bars or carrier memhere 17 having handles 19 formed thereon.

The shaft 9 is keyed to a bearing casting 21 against which the hub 5 may rest or rotate, depending upon circun'istances to be described. A pin 23 serves to hold the shaft 9 and casting 21 integral. The lower part of the casting 21 rotatably rests upon a portion of the brace 13.

Bolted to the bottom of the casting 21 is a brake drum or hell 25 which rotates with said casting. The drum 25 is inverted with respect to the brace piece 13. Held to said brace 13(within the confines of the drum 25) is a brake shoe 27. (Figs. 2 and 4.) The holding bolt 29 for the shoe passes loosely through a notch 31 of the shoe, whereby the shoe is permitted to spring to various positions in the conventional manner, under action of a cam 33 held rotatably by means of a bearing 35 of the brace piece 13. The cam 33 is positioned within a slotted portion 3? of said shoe. Conventional springs 39 continually hold the two legs 41 of the shoe 27 against the cam 33, and away from the'drum 25 when the brake is in release position.

The cam 33 is rotatably held in said hearing 35 by means of a stem 43, to the outer or lower end of which stem is fastened an arm 45. Jointed to the arm 45 is a brake rod 47 which connects with a second brake rod 49 by way of an equalizing spring 51. The second rod 49 slidably passes through one of a second pair of cross braces 53 which join the runners 17 At the outer surface of said brace 53 the brake rod 49 is threaded to receive a hand-wheel 55 for purposes of setting the brake. As the wheel is turned in a predetermined direction, its reaction on the brace 53 serves to draw the rod 49, whereby the rod 47 is moved by way of spring 51 and the brake is set. The force with which the brake is set may be governed manually at this wheel 55. -The spring '51 permits of practically a constant pressure of theshoe 27 somewhat eccentric or out of perfect align ment with said shoe. The advantage of-this will appear hereinafter. p

The hub 5 is adapted to be pinned to the casting 21 at certain times and adapted to rotate freely with respect thereto at other times. To accomplish this end, the casting 21 is provided with a plurality of holes 57 adapted to receive a pin 59, which pin is slidably borne in an extended portion of the hub 5. A spring 61 normally holds the pin 59 in engagement with a hole 57. However, conventional throw-out latch (33 is adapted to withold the pin 59 from any of its engaging holes, whereby the hub 5 may relate independently of the brake mechanism. The latch 63 comprises a head65 attached by proper means to the pin 59. A depending pin 67 is adapted to rest in a notch formed in a portion of the hub 5 when the pin, under action of the spring 61 serves to connect hub 5 and casting 21. By withdrawing the head 65, the pin 59 is made to disconnect the said. members 5 and 21, and by rotating the head 65 to take the pin 67 out ofregister with its notch, the pin can be prevented from returning to a locking position under normal action of said spring 61. Hence the hub 5 and its attendant parts, such as the disc 1, may at will be locked to or released from the braking system.

In order to facilitate the formation of a coil on the disc 1, the following collapsible spool is provided:

In each of preferably five slots 69 is slidably held a Webbed portion"!- 1 of a spool finger 73. Each webbed portion is provided at its outer end with pairs of wheels '25 and 77 adapted to ride respectively above and below the edges'of its respective slot 69 (Figs. 2 and 5). The wheels of said pairs 75 and 77 are separated vertically a distance slightly greater than the thickness of plate 1. At its inner end each Web 71 is provided with pairs of wheels 79 and 81 above and below said edges of the slot respectively.

These pairs of wheels 79 and 81 are separated a distance much greater than the thickness of said plate 1, for purposes to be made clear. It should be noted that four wheels are placed on each side of the web 71 so that the web is symmetrically held. Furthermore. when the lower pairs of wheels 7 7 and 81 are both substantially in a horizontal position with respect to one another, then the body of the finger 73 is vertical. In this position the upper,'inner pair of wheels 79 do not engage said plate 1.

The body portion of each finger 73 has formed outwardly from the top thereof an upwardly sloping arm 83 adapted to prevent a coil of wire on the fingers 73 from slipping endWise from said fingers during a winding process, These arms 83 also aid in guiding a strand of material as it is being fed on the spool during the winding process.

After a coil of material has been wound it may be removed from the fingers 73 by throwing them inwardly to their dotted-line positions indicated in Fig. 2. The rearward upper pair of rollers 7 9 is such a distance away from the plate 1, that before striking said plate 1, the outer ends of the arms 83 may be brought into alignment or within the limits of the position of the lower ends of the fingers 7 3 during the winding opcration. Hence a coil C of wound wire or the like will readily clear the arms 83 upon removal from the platel.

It may be noted that the slots 69 are long enough to permit of some radial adjustment of the fingers 73 so that various diametered coils may be wound on the device. A differently positioned set of slots 69 is also 7 provided wherein the fingers 7 3 may be positioned if it is desired to wind a much smaller sized range of coils. Any nu nber of variously positioned .ets of slots may be used.

In order to adjustably position the fingers 73 angularly and radially, each of said fingers which is T-shaped in sect-ion, has an car 85 provided on the stem of said T-shape. A

pin 86 is formed through said ear and sidewardly engages slotted portions 87 of an ad justing bar 89. There are preferably five adjusting bars, one for each finger 7 3. Each bar comprises a flat member in which is formed an opening 91. On one side of the,

ion

arranged in a separate plane and are vertically juxtapositioned at the gear teeth or pinion 9!. Said teeth are of a length adapted to engage at once all sets of the rack teeth 93 of the five members 89. Above the gear teeth 95, the shaft 9 is integrally" provided with squared or other means 97, for nonrotatably but removably receiving a crank arm 99 for purposes of turning the shaft 9. The assembled spool now comprisestheplate pr disc 1, its hub 5, and the In order to brace the overhanging disc 1, against weaving as a reeling operation is performed, rollers 101 are provided immediately beneath the flange 3 and on the cross adjustable fingers members 53 of the side frames 17'. y The flange r 3 forms a d efinite track upon which the rollers 101 may move. Rolling friction isslight and there is ample material in the flange to provide for wear. Hereinafter the side frames hub 5. The shaft 9 may then rotate with respect to hub 5. The brake is released and the handle or crank 99 applied to the shaft 9. By turning the shaft from crank 99 and lightly holding the disc 1 with the hand, foot or otherwise, the adjusting bars may be set for any desired diameter of coil within the limits of the dimensions of the slots 69. If this adjustment is being made outwardly, then the fingers 73 will automatically assume avertical position. If the adjustment is being made inwardly, then after adjustment for diameter has been made, at the. crank 99, then the fingers 73- may be manually positioned in a vertical manner by applying outward pressure at the upper ends thereof or inward pressure at the lower ends thereof. The fingers 73 are then in their solid line positions shown throughout the drawings. During the above operation the shaft 9 rotated with respect to the hub 5 and disc 1, as described.

Next, to reel a cable or the like the latch 63 is closed, that is, in position in a hole 57 whereby the hub 5 and member 21 are locked together. There is no relative motion between the hub 5 and the member 21. The brake is kept in a released position however, so that the shaft- 9 may rotate in the bearing 11 of the brace 13.

Now, if a cable or the like is applied to the outside of the fingers 73 at the base thereof. preferably at the disc 1, then movement of the crank 99 will result in winding of the cable on the outside of the fingers 73 as on a spool. No relative motion is had between the disc 1 and the shaft 9, so that the teeth 95 and the adiusting bars 89 are not operable to adjust. Winding takes place preferably from a point near the disc 1 up to the arms 88 and thereafter back and forth as on any winding spool. The first coils wound near the bases of the fingers 73 hold said fingers substantially at the right angle or at any other pre-designed position with respect to the.

disc 1. The exact positioning depends upon the relative positioning of the lower sets of wheels 7'? and 81, which are in the present embodiment aligned horizontally with respect to the vertical body portions of fingers 73.

If, while winding a coil as described, it is desirable to stop temporarily, then the brake may be set tight, whence tension in the cable will not cause undesirable unwinding.

If under certain circumstances. after partial or complete winding, it is desirable to again pay out wire from the reel, then the brake may be set to any intermediate position between off and on. A pull on the wire will then cause unwinding at a rate depending on the amount the brake is set. Aneven rate of pay is provided, inasmuch as the equalizing spring 51 insures a substantially constant predetermined brake set. Any of various tensions may be kept in the unreeling wire by properly adjusting the brake. If substantially no tension is desired, said brake may be released entirely and the wire freely unwound. During the unwinding operation the crank 99 may or may not be removed, as desired, although it is preferable to do so.

Finally, after a coil of cable has been completed (large or small), the brake is again released, the latch 63 opened and the crank 99 turned while the disc 1 is lightly held as before. The turning of the crank 99 is now done in such a direction as to draw the adjusting bars 89 inwardly. The fingers 73 will have a tendency to be drawn inwardly and collapse to their dotted-line position shown in Fig. 2. The collapse will be certain when the webs 71 touch the inner ends of their slots 69, as the only remainingpossible movement of the fin gers is about the-pins of the wheel sets 75 and 77 as pivots. It is evident that the slotted portions 87 permit complete movement of the pins 86.

' After the collapse of the fingers, the coil of wire may readily be removed vertically as it will readily clear the arms 83.

It is to be understood that the reel may be fully operated in the horizontal positions thereof indicated in the drawings, or that the side frames 17 may be positioned substantially vertically (say leaning against some object) whereby cranking is easily accomplished. In fact the reel may be employed and operated in any position into which it may be put.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A collapsible reel comprising a plate, movable and angularly collapsible fingers thereon, a shaft adapted to be locked for movement with the plate and to be rotatably arranged therewith, a pinion on said shaft and toothed adjusting bars adapted to engage said pinion and said fingers whereby relative movement between the shaft and the plate causes relative movement between said fingers and the plate and means for linking said bars and fingers, whereby the latter may be angularly collapsed with respect to said plate without changing the planes of said bars.

2. Means for collapsing the fingers of a winding spool and adjusting them comprising a slotted plate, means for slida-bly and rotatably mounting winding fingers in said slots, a shaft adapted to move with or rela tively to said plate, a pinion on the shaft and adjusting racks cooperating with said pinion and said fingers to move the latter when movement is had between the shaft and the plate.

3. A collapsible reel comprising a plate, movable fingers thereon, a shaft adapted to be positively locked for movement with the plate and to be rotatably arranged therewith, manual means being provided for locking and unlocking the plate and shaft, a pinion on said shaft and toothed adjusting bars adapted to engage said pinion and said fingers, whereby relative movement between the shaft and the plate causes relative movement between said fingers and the plate, a stiffening flange on the plate and bracing rollers engaging said flange for preventing weaving in the plate, whereby the said mechanism therewith will be operable.

4. A collapsible reel comprising a plate, movable fingers thereon, a shaft adapted to be positively locked for movement with the plate and to be rotatably arranged therewith,

a pinion on said shaft and toothed adjusting bars adapted to engage said pinion and said fingers, whereby relative movement between the shaft and the plate causes relative movement between said fingers and the plate, a stiffening flange on the plate and bracing rollers engaging said flange for preventing weaving in the plate, whereby the said mechanism therewith will be operable, a brake associated with said shaft adapted to govern the motion of the said plate when the shaft is coupled therewith and when there is no relative finger adjusting movement between the shaft and the plate and manually operable means for locking the shaft anl the plate.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 20th day of January, 1926.

' WALTER A. HEINRICH. 

